Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Pictures...

jroo

Mark,
Oh man that sucks. Sorry for the crash. But I have to say, the pictures made me laugh....The landing gear jammed in the ground and the rest yards away is hilarious. haha

Take care; good luck with the rebuild.

James

JPEE

Hello Mark,

I wished I could say good morning .......but I can't. It is a bad day in Deadwood as we say when we lose a heli here. As Jreue said, seeing those skids left in sand was nothing less than amazing!

I would like to pass on somemore of my crash repair information like using the EXI parts. After two bad crashes that cost $250.00 "each" in a one month, I found I had made some part order mistakes.

1. Look and see what a new ESP might cost you, they are going down in price all of the time.
A. $520.00 Super Combo at [link=http://www.flying-hobby.com/shop/trex-500esp-super-combo-new-version-p-4187.html]Flying Hobby[/link]
B. $499.99 Super Combo at [link=http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/2_382_383/products_id/30532/n/Align-T-Rex-500CF-ESP-Superior-Combo-Kit-w-Motor-ESC-3-Servos-Carbon-Fiber-Blades/utm_source/Google-Base/utm_medium/cpc/utm_campaign/Product-Feeds/source/google_ext]A Main Hobbies[/link]

2. When you do your price checks on parts I don't know whether you know this or not but you can buy parts like the front and back crown gears in bags that have two and three sets per bag that are just a bit more than buying a single bag with one part!

3. Hell's Bells, their entire 500 heli is $127.00 and that gives you your:
Frame sides
Frame bottom
Fly Bar
Canopy posts
Battery tray
Main shaft
Main gears complete..... their quailty is not Aligns but I use them on my 450 Pro and beat on them and they take it.
Boom tube...........theirs is a belt drive
Carbon fiber main blades
PLUS all of the other left over parts.

On the other hand...........now that that you can buy a brand new 500ESP for only $500.00 and be ready to go again, you'd still have the old motor, ESC, servos, head parts and other stuff that would be well worth $300.00 on the bench. If you think this crash will cost $200.00 (I think your low on that number) go over this perspective and see what you come up with.

Good luck on whatever path you take.

JPEE

evdreamer

Mark,

Sorry about your 500. The great thing about winter is I don't have to worry about crashing.

Nick

JPEE

Nick, your hitting below the belt LMAO about being parked while the snow is falling. Yep those shelf queens are safe as a bug in a rug as they say. However, when the spring thaw comes you'll be out there AH...KICKING...IT!

I thought you weather bugs might like this. It will give the weather anywhere in the USA that there is a weather station or airport. It might take few hit and miss's until you can work the buttons but you can narrow your field down to your immediate area. Go to City Zooms
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/mwmap3.php?map=usa

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Mark,

Wow, what can I say? I'm sure sorry to see the 500 a mess like that...they do tend to crash a lot harder than the 450's that is for sure...

There is, as you know, a fine line between progress, and crashing...seems you went just a tad over the line...but it happens, we've all been there! Some guys around here say "if you ain't crashin', you ain't flyin'!"

That was, well, rather unique how the landing gear were stuck in the soil....a first as far as I know!

A tip I just read in the latest RC heli magazine that comes to mind for you to throw around...not sure if you broke the frames (good chance they are[&o]) but a guy was showing his 550 build, and he actually doubled up the frames, that is, two frames on each side, stacked side by side....offers a lot more strength, and only a slight weight penalty...of course, you'll need longer hardware...maybe worth considering...

JPEE,

Thanks for the weather app...

Nick,

Yup, my helis are nice and safe in the winter too...

It's nearly impossible to harm them if you don't fly 'em...lol...

How was your first day of school? [X(]

Not much new here....they blocked ALL internet access at work....some idiots up in sales were on porn sites, and the owner shut the internet down, except for essential websites only....that really sucks!!

I have an idea though....gonna test it out tomorrow...got a Clear 4G wireless modem....we just happen to have 4G coverage at the shop, so that should be interesting....but of couse I'll have to PAY dearly for it...but if it works, I may hook a router up, and charge the other guys a small fee for internet access...

Glenn

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi gang!

And thanks for the support in this time of need...

Now on to the after crash inspection:

The flybar...usual shafts (main/feathering) and the TT...boom...tail brace...servo gear set for the Futaba 9257...and bearings (haven't checked all of them yet). Electronics work and servo's seem to be fine, except the Futaba tail servo.

No cracked frame and no TT gears were stripped in the crash...I have to admit the TT gears surprised me.

I think the main reason the crash damage was minimal was the soft sand/dirt that the heli hit...I'm sure if it hit anything else I would be looking at more $$.

I look at this as an opportunity to install some of the metal upgrades I got from Xheli and the metal gears I got last month for the 510's. I also had the chance to completly disassemble the tail grips and replace those grip screw's that are being reported as sometimes failing due to fatigue...for piece of mind.

Going to use the tail blades that came with the kit instead of replacing with new KBDD blades and pull out my other pair of Stealth blades for the remaiden.

Did I luck out with this crash...Definitely yes. (Maybe I should get a lottery ticket )

Mark

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Nick,

Do you see any snow in those pictures? Lol.

It does kinda suck that its going to be 71 tomorrow and I have nothing to fly...guess I'll just fire up the grill instead.

Alright, that was a bit mean...so how was your first day of school?

Glenn,

Can't those idiots wait until they get home to do their porn surfing? I hope they got fired on the spot! Good luck with the wireless 4G setup...hope it works out for you.

Yeah, the old saying your not flying if your not crashing...well I crashed and now I'm not flying. Somehow, I'm missing the message.

JPEE,

Thanks for all the suggestions. What is Hell's Bells...besides an AC/DC song? I googled it and couldn't find anything hobby related.

I know that AC-RC and Century RC both have 500 clone parts...and if a big order is necessary the shipping costs could be worth it in the longrun.

Mark

evdreamer

Glenn,

Sorry you can't use the internet at work anymore.

School is going alright. It took awhile to adjust to the class sizes. So far I have four classes that have 100-200 students in them. I am studying a lot more than my previous college. I have a hour or two between most of my classes, so it helps pass the time.

I assembled another one of my new boards and took the parts off three of my old boards. I made some changes to my program to have the balancer react faster and save on power when the cell is under Voltage. I hooked it up to each cell in my 6S A123 pack and it was cool watching it work. I would like to get enough boards to charge one of my 6S packs with my balancers hooked up to each cell. I still have some more testing to do before I am ready for that.

Nick

JPEE

Glenn,
What a shame a few fools "fummed" it up for everyone else at the dealership. Everyone should know by that most computer terminals are watched by management for good reason. Good luck on your tests, I sincerely hope this works out for you.
I am not quite clear on the 4G information? You have a 4G modem there at work that is not in use? If you do have that modem there, then I don't see where the PAY comes into play? Unless your joking about charging the other guys?? I am kind confused, can you help me understand?
Wow!!!!!!!!!!! the idea of sandwiching two frames together sounds very cool, that would make that frame all but bullet proof I would think. As you mentioned the weight factor, I honestly think it would be a non issue for a heli that size and here is why. I just weighed a 500 half frame. It weighs in at 51.5 grams. To give you relative scale for comparison, a nickel coin weighs 50 grams! So imagine taping two nickel coins on your 500, you'd never feel it. So that makes his theory a good one in my book with the exception you'd would want to make the upgrade to the aluminum bottom plate as even more would be the chance of breaking the small tabs off that hold the landing gear on.

Mark,
Hells Bells is a term used when I grew up meaning;
Who cares............
Holy Cow..............
Oh come on now..........
Fummed up................. is the same as the 4 letter word that cannot be typed here and or meaning "fouled up". Kinda like oh dang it!
I was surprised when you brought the band name in to play, I was not aware they existed. As you read there are many uses for the phrase, but this is where I was coming from. Also to clarify, the use of the term "a bad day in Deadwood", is derived from the a western town in South Dakota named "Deadwood". That is where the likes of Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok ruled the roost in the early hard days of the west in the 1800's. Wild Bill is buried there! I have been there three times. The term "a bad day in deadwood" come the loss of Wild Bill and that many a gun fight took place there. You only needed to make the wrong look, cheat at cards and you were shot, again hence the saying.
With regard to your crash, I am pleased to hear there was somewhat of a silver lining in that the costs for repairs will not be as bad as first thought. This is certainly the time to use your brand spanking new MG's in your servos, you see, everything happens for a reason lol.
Mark, could you elaborate on the tail the tail issue or provide me the link to that issue and the screw you replaced, sounds interesting and something I need to read up on.


Nick,
I hope you get used to the large class size, that has to be a real change for you coming from the smaller class size. But I again I repeat! it will give you a better chance to hook up with study groups and share ideas as well as tutor each other. That was a paramount issue we pushed at my Univ. Also, a study was done reviewing students study habits regarding taking exams. They found that the students that studied all night then crashed a got a few hours sleep before class did "worse" !!! than student's that ate and early dinner, went to bed at 7-8 p.m. and then got up at 3:00 and studied until they left house "because" they were not crashing from being up all night and sugars and caffeine were not crashing them. This study was nationwide.
It seems like your balancer is progressing nicely. You have to be proud of your accomplishments.

James!!!!! it is time to come out and play, your mighty quite over there............Smiles to you

JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Mark,

Wow, I guess the sandy terrain there did help break the fall a bit...and helis after they crash almost (!) always look worse than they are, once you start taking the mangled stuff off...they start to look a bit better.

Glad you got by with minimal damage, considering...

Nick,

Those classes sound huge...I've never had to deal with anything that large...hope you don't have to give any presentations in front of the class..[X(]

Congrats on your progress on your boards...sounds like they get better all the time..

JPEE,

Project "internet restore" has been sucessful! Not without some hassles, but it's looking pretty good...

Basically, as you probably know, 4G is the next step up from 3G, as we have on our iPhones now...it's about 4x as fast, roughly...but not very widespread at all yet, the network is expanding, but it'll be 2-3 years before we see nationwide coverage...

http://www.clear.com/coverage

What I did here is completely bypass my work internet...my internet now comes over the air, as our iPhones do, except much faster....and I am impressed, to say the least...I was watching YouTube videos at 720p, full screen...and this is coming out of THIN AIR, no connections to the modem except power and the ethernet cable to the PC.... And that's inside a cinderblock building, with a metal roof, not near a window or exterior wall...

With the Clear Wireless I actually lease the modem (which looks like a cable modem, with no cable attached) and pay for the service, which is $45 a month, for unlimited internet access...no limits or overlimit charges...and the $5 fee for the modem lease...there is a 2 year contract, but it's not like a phone, it only costs $40 to break the contract at any time. I have 14 days to try it and return it if it doesn't work out...but that's not looking likely...

It took about 2 hours with tech to get it setup and working, some setting DEEP in Windows XP finally fixed it...but the support staff was friendly, and knowledgeable...so that was nice...overall, I can highly recommend them...but time will tell, hopefully the service is consistent...we'll see.

So the bottom line is I have MY OWN INTERNET, not the company's, so I can do with it as I please, no more SONIC WALL firewall (it blocked any videos, even short news clips, etc) and some websites that I wanted to access...

In my line of work, there are often idle times, where there is nothing to do, I'm sure you remember me posting sometimes when work was dead....and, believe it or not, I have actually fixed a couple of cars with Google info....so it can actually be job related, not to mention we have one tool guy that comes, a Snap-on guy, but he's just there to collect, so I often refer to websites for new tool info....and yeah, the occasional RC heli video!!

So, today has been a sucess so far!

Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend....

Glenn

JPEE

Glenn,
Thank you for the in depth explanation of the 4G. I looked at their USA coverage and checked my house, I am not covered but it is down the street about 3 miles. I am locked in now for two years with a HUGE drop fee so I am not going anywhere soon. Sorry you had to work today,"but" it sounds like the modem work was fun too. What do the guys think? Do you guys just have the one work computer to share?

JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey JPEE,

You are welcome....and my house is also not in the coverage area...seems they stick to the major cities and major roads, like my work is on. Seems that 4G towers don't broadcast as far as 3G ones.

I have learned one thing from this...my next phone will have 4G...it's lightning fast compared to the present 3G phones...even if I have to wait a couple of years...

I didn't have to work today, I went in specifically to setup the internet connection....I was quite upset when they took internet access away!!! And the thing is, it was not announced, no meeting....nothing....just blocked everything Thursday afternoon, no explanation, or when/if it will ever be back...

No, every tech has their own PC (and I mean OWN...the company does not provide them, even though we need internet access to fix the cars)...so for the time being, I have the only internet connected PC in the shop....not sure where it's going from here...

I talked to a salesperson today, and they are all screwed too...they use the internet to get used car prices for trade ins, used car values, etc....but no more....also, the used car tech needs a website called "Alldata" to repair and inspect used cars...he asked on Friday to have that turned back on...so we'll see. The whole thing seems like a knee jerk reaction to some certain people that abused the privilege...so it may come back at some point...who knows? I'm not waiting, or having the headache of having to worry about an internet connection...

Glenn

JPEE

Gotcha Glenn. OBTW the package went into the mail yesterday. I figure a week to get there by carrier pigeon, that was the least expensive. Overall it was just pennies, no worries........


You and Nick REALLY need to read this. Nick will really flip when he see's what this guy did on RCGroups.

JPEE

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1164359

Guys, I was tired when I posted last night and I am SO SORRY I forgot the link. The guy named "Feather Merchant" sell power supplies for cheaper than anywhere else. He was asked to make a 24 vt system and you will be amazed what he came up with. My big 65 power supply looks like his, of which he uses two. ENJOY Nick

evdreamer

Glenn,

That is good your loop hole to the internet problem is working. My high school had access to Alldata. That was a pretty cool website.

My programming teacher said I might have to write programs in front of my class. My generic engineering class will probably have some speeches in front of the class, but I don't know how big that class is yet. Other than that I don't think my other classes will require getting in front of the class.

Nick

evdreamer

John,

Do you have a link to what the guy posted on RCGroups?

Nick

JPEE

You and Nick REALLY need to read this. Nick will really flip when he see's what this guy did on RCGroups.

JPEE BUMP


http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1164359

Guys, I was tired when I posted last night and I am SO SORRY I forgot the link. The guy named ''Feather Merchant'' sell power supplies for cheaper than anywhere else. He was asked to make a 24 vt system and you will be amazed what he came up with. My big 65 power supply looks like his, of which he uses two. ENJOY Nick

jroo

Finally got flight in. I was going to take both, 250 and 450 out, but the 450 batteries were not fully charged. It's been raining for 2 days here, and we finally got a break. It's about 50 degrees and very still. I took the 250 right down the road to the football field of a local middle school. It was really nice. There is a brand new surfaced track around the field, so its a real nice place to stand and take-off/land.

I got to fly a pack and a half. In the middle of the second flight, the heli felt a bit weird. I brought it down, and sure enough, the linkage ball on the elevator servo was backing out. Those things drive me nuts. It's a tiny little arm and the linkage ball screw it too short to get a nut on the other site. I spoke to a guy on heli-freak that said he 'pressed' a nut 'into' the arm and screwed it into that. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. This is why I was asking a few days ago about metal servo arms for this thing. I'll figure something out; unless someone has a bright idea. I would like to just buy some linkage balls that have longer thread.

The flight went pretty good though. I've not flown in awhile, but have been on the sim quite a bit. It's helped a ton. I feel so much more comfortable, and I'm not so apprehensive about flying from my left, less-dominate side.

Well that's about it for me. Ah, the guy that bought my Blade 400 wants my MCX. I'm selling for $50 + 15 shipping. Not bad for the heli that started it all!

James

jroo

450 batteries finished charging so I took the 450 down the road to the football field. 1st pack went pretty good but my cyclic thumb was freezing. I started to fly the second pack, but I jettisoned the idea. I was too cold, it was misting, and I felt if I contined, my 450 would end up buried like Marks 500

James

JPEE

Jreue,
Glad to hear you got a flight in! I hear you on the backing out of servo link balls. I always use CA on every connection and it does help. On metal, I use Loctite of course. My buddy last week was having the same issue on a clone. We went to the hobby shop and they sold him a set of new balls and in that set were a few with long stems and thats what we did for him.

I have one for you guys that will take the cake! I am working in the yard today trimming and what have you. The wind let up enough so I thought I will pull the old CX2 out of mothballs and do a few laps around the yard. So I am flying around low because the breeze is starting come back. So at a point the heli went crazy and went into the grass. I picked up the heli and put it on the concrete to take off again. Well that sucker is shaking itself to death. So I look it over and it looked 100% sound. I spun it up in my hands and wobble wobble wobble?????? So I throttled one blade at a time. I did the lower first and heli was smooth. Then the top blades and WOBBLE!!!! I looked the top blades over, swashplate and could find nothing. So I spun it up again real slow and noticed the fly was a bit crazy. Then "there is was" the weight had come out of the flaybar from inside the black cup at the flybars end. Well now what? that suckwer is out in the grass somewhere. NOT to fear............I went to my shop and got my old trusty metal detector out and set it as sensitive as I could and then mapped out the yard in sections where the heli went down and started. I took a 4 foot left to right swath and walked about 12-15 feet and found it with the detector, YAHOO! There she was laying in the grass. That stuff is all the bench now and later I will CA that stuff back in.
Notice that little tiny weight laying on the ground in front of the heli.

JPEE

JPEE

Jreue,
GOOD DEAL.............. a guy has to listen to his little voice inside and follow it. 99.9% of the it is right! Live to fly another day.

OBTW, did you ever get that other thing taken care of?

jroo

JPEE,
Have not taken care of the switch. I recently put in hardwood floors in my house. All the floors are in, but I finished putting in the quarter-round, which covers the gap between the wood floor and the baseboard. I even scrubbed every single inch of my baseboard, and repainted everything. The house is relatively new (8 years), but man, it looks like brand new again.

Yea I'm happy to get a flight in, and listen to myself about packing it in. I wanted to fly really bad, but I had a funny feeling I would end up burying it.

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi guys,

Who says my 500 is buried?! She's nearly back from the grave...

James,

Awesome that you got to fly...and that you have a field so close to where you live. Good call on listening to your 'inner' voice...sometimes that urge to ignore it is really difficult.

Get yourself some links that have longer threads so you can use a nut on the other side to make sure it will never back out. Then you can loctite the nut to it and be done with it, no worry's.

JPEE,

I'll have to look on Helifreak for the threads on the tail grips coming off due to the fatigued bolt, there are several the past year about it.

You powerhungry amp monsters for charging all your batteries at once...goodness gracious, I think that thing will power any charger you have.

Good detective work on finding the missing flybar weight for your CX2...ahh, the memories that brings back. I had the red one and got one of those CF booms to make it a bit less 'toyish' looking. It was fun except when you got a bit crazy with it and wham! Blade Clap and falling heli.

Glenn,

Way to stick it to the Man...to heck with his internet, you've got your own!!

My old job in SC they restricted access but that only lasted for a short time, but it still makes you feel a bit apprehensive checking websites and wondering who's tracking you. I know a few people started bringing their laptops to use worryfree.

Nick,

Goodness your classes reminded me of a few of the large lecture hall-type classes I had in college...it looked like a concert hall with the instructor at the bottom and you waaay up in the rows. I would dread any kind of public speaking so major cudo's to you for having the confidence for that.

Having an hour or two between classes is perfect for getting a snack in or heading to the library to get caught up/review your material...or you could do what I used to do and surf the internet. Yeah, sometimes I wasn't the greatest student example. But that time was nice when I did need it.

Forgot to mention but your board does look very professional...all the work you put into it paid off.

Well, looks like the day that JPEE had at his field has finally started at mine...went there today to fly my zero and saw huge zones of cleared soil and markers for house construction put up. My guess is they started Friday. I knew this was going to happen several months ago when they cleared all the brush that had grown up over the summer...it gave me a nice clear zone to fly but I knew it was short lived. There is a park with some baseball fields nearby that I've looked at but haven't tried flying at yet so I'll have to see if there are any obstructions to avoid.

Always optimistic.

Mark

Forgot to ask those with Phoenix...anyone downloaded version 3.0? Thoughts...problems...good/bad idea to try? Thanks.

jroo

Mark,

I was one Phoenix 3.0 beta for the longest time and have installed every patch since its made it to final release. All seems fine. I have mine set up to check for updates on load, and I've installed all of the patches.

evdreamer

John,

That is good he took care of the ground problem to make the power supplies work.

That is good you figured out the problem on your CX2. It reminds me of my old CX and when I tried flying it with no flybar weights.

James,

That is good you were able to get a flight in.

Mark,

I am not a confident public speaker, but I will do what ever is required to get an engineering degree.

I have been doing some testing on my board. There is a slight flaw that affects the accuracy of the temp sensor during balancing. I have an idea what is causing it, but I have no idea on how to fix it. It is bugging me since I strive for perfection on my projects. I added a part to kind of mask the problem, but I don't like the idea of that.

Nick